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THE 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS 



IN 



OHIO. 



BY 

FRANCIS C. HUEBNER. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. : 
SIMMS & LEWIS, PRINTERS. 



M? 



L506U 



Copyright, 1898, by 

FRANCIS C . HUEBNEK 

Washington, D. C. 






I 




PRICK 75 CENTS. 



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PREFACE 



The early life of the writer of this little 
volume was spent on the banks of the 
Tuscarawas River within a stone's throw 
of the site of the old Indian town of 
Gnadenhutten, and it was here that an 
interest in the history of the missions was 
first awakened. Two old apple trees 
which had been planted by the Indian 
converts, and depressions in the earth 
caused by the "caving in" of the cellars 
where stood the houses of the inhabitants, 
outlined what had existed, while two 
solemn mounds and a tall, grey monu- 
ment bearing the inscription, "Here 
triumphed in death ninety Christian 
Indians, March 8, 1782," told the story 
of the end. The hiatus was supplied in 
later years by reading such works as 
Heckewelder's Narrative.; Loskiel's His- 



PREFACE. 



tory oi the Indian Missions; Dodridge's 
Notes ; Taylor's History of Ohio ; Zeis- 
berger's Diary (translated by Bliss) ; Life 
and Times of David Zeisberger by De 
Schweinitz, and other works, including 
the Life of John Heckewelder, by Rond- 
thaler. From the latter-named book was 
obtained the picture of John Heckewelder, 
and from the first-named the picture of 
Zeisberger which are reproduced for the 
benefit of my readers, and to each of the 
above works I must give credit for the 
historical information obtained and nar- 
rated herein. 

The object of this little volume is to 
give to those interested in the history of 
Eastern Ohio a condensed but full story 
of the Moravian missions in Ohio. 

The Author. 
Washington, D. C, 

September 15, 1898. 



THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



For over ten years the history of the 
now great Commonwealth of Ohio was 
centered principally in two communities 
in the Tuscarawas valley, named Schoen- 
brnnn and Gnadenhutten. The former 
stood about one and one-half miles south 
of the present county seat of Tuscarawas 
county, while just beside the heaps of 
ashes of old Gnadenhutten was built the 
quiet little hamlet of the present day 
bearing that name. 

These two towns were inhabited by 

Indians, but they were Indians in name 

only, and did not exercise the savage 

nature which the word " Indian " im- 

5 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHTO. 



plies. Their aim was towards civiliza- 
tion ; they desired to live at peace with 
all people, and their number was large 
enough, and their influence potential 
enough to effect the history of the eastern 
part of Ohio, if not the history of the 
United States as a nation. 

To properly present the history of these 
two towns, it will be necessary to give a 
brief review of the wanderings of the 
people who formed the nucleus of them. 
These wanderers were Moravian con- 
verts from the Mohican, Delaware, and 
other Indian nations. Moravian mis- 
sionaries had been preaching to the In- 
dians in the Eastern States — first in New 
York and Connecticut, and then in Penn- 
sylvania at various points. A mission 
would be established, a town regularly 
laid out, a log church constructed, and 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. I 

in a very short time the church would be 
surrounded with log houses. While the 
missions were prospering, however, white 
civilization was pushing rapidly to the 
West, and wherever the whites and In- 
dians met on the borders of civilization 
there was contention. In case of war, 
no discrimination was shown by the 
border-whites generally, whether an In- 
dian was disposed to do evil or not, but 
every red skin was regarded as an enemy 
to civilization. In all differences be- 
tween Indians and whites, " might " was 
considered " right," and the white race 
being the superior, the final outcome in 
each case was the retirement of the In- 
dians to some land less desirable to the 
whites at that time. For these reasons 
the Moravian Indians had moved from 
New York and Connecticut to the eastern 



8 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

part of Pennsylvania, then to the central 
part of that State, and next to the still 
wilder portions. In the year 1770 we 
find a number of them at Friedenshutten, 
in the northern part of Pennsylvania, on 
the Susquehanna River. 

When the Moravian converts wished 
to build a town they would obtain the 
permission of the Indian tribe which 
claimed the land on which they desired 
to settle. The land upon which Fried- 
enshutten stood belonged to the Iroquois 
Nation, and it was from their council the 
Moravian Indians obtained permission to 
occupy that land. It was one of the 
principles of Indian nations to give homes 
and protection to smaller and weaker 
tribes with the intention of adopting 
them in order to strengthen their own, 
and no doubt this \*as the incentive 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. V 

which induced the Iroquois Nation to 
give the Moravian Indians this land. 
The Iroquois soon found, however, that 
the principles of the Moravian Indians 
would prevent their helping them in 
time of war. When the Iroquois realized 
this fact the j had no more use for the 
Moravians, and the result was the land 
upon which Friedenshutten stood was 
sold by the Iroquois to the British. 
When this bargain passed, the Moravian 
Indians were without a home they could 
call their own Here we must leave our 
friends, however, and take a view of the 
land which was destined to be their future 
home. 

The Delaware Nation of Indians oc- 
cupied the eastern portion of Ohio and 
the Western part of Pennsylvania. They 
had formerly lived east of the Allegheny 



10 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

mountains and were in power there when 
William Penn made his famous treaty 
with the Indians about one hundred years 
before, but the whites forced them to re- 
tire to the West, and during the years 
1765 to 1795, the Delaware Nation was 
at the height of its power in the Tus- 
carawas Yalley. 

To the south and west of the Dela- 
wares lived the Mingoes and Shawnees. 
To the north and northwest lived the 
Wyandots. A number of Mohicans were 
with the Delawares after 1772, but they 
were principally those who emigrated to 
that section with the Moravian Indians, 
and most of them were settled in the 
community of G-nadenhutten. This was 
simply their home by adoption. 

The Delaware Nation was divided into 
three tribes, the Turtle, the Turkey, and 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 11 

the Wolf. Each of these tribes supposed 
they were connected by some distant 
relationship with the animal after which 
their tribe was named. They supposed 
that the earth was supported on the back 
of an immense turtle, which was the 
father of the Turtle tribe, and reasoning 
in some manner not clear to me, they 
based upon that supposition the idea that 
the Turtle tribe was the superior one. 

At the time of these events, 1770, Neta- 
watwes was the peace chief or sachem of 
the Turtle tribe. Being the sachem of 
the most important tribe of the Dela- 
wares he was regarded as the head man 
in the Delaware Nation, and had charge 
of the records and wampum of the nation, 
among which were the wampum belts 
given his ancestors by William Penn. 
In Indian councils the sachem not only 



12 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

presided over the meetings, but if he was 
a man of strong character he would 
decide many of the important questions 
himself. Netawatwes was a man of this 
character. In Indian councils he would 
ask the opinions of all the leading 
men of the tribes on the matter under 
consideration, and after each had ex- 
pressed himself Netawatwes would give 
his decision on the question, after which 
there would seldom be further contro- 
versy. The whites called him " King 
Newcomer " (which name I will use 
hereafter in this history), and from that 
name the town in which he resided was 
called " Newcomerstown." 

Newcomerstown was the capital of the 
Delaware Nation and the meeting place 
of their Grand Council. The town con- 
tained about one hundred log houses, 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 13 

many of which were well constructed, 
and equal to those erected by the white 
settlers. 

The principal war chief of the Turtle 
tribe and the confidential adviser of King 
Newcomer was White Eyes. This posi- 
tion was one of great importance, as the 
head war chief had not only in charge the 
conduct of the war when it existed, but 
he in a manner declared when war should 
exist. White Eyes was chosen for this 
position on account of his statesmanship, 
bravery, and patriotism, and the influence 
he could exert on the warriors. He was 
one the foremost men in the nation, and 
his oratorical powers, logical conclusions, 
and powers of persuasion were truly re- 
markable for a man who is considered a 
savage. 

The Turkey tribe we do not hear so 



14 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

much about in connection with the mis- 
sions. At the time I have mentioned 
King Beaver was the head chief, and an 
Indian we shall hereafter know as Cap- 
tain Johnny was his war chief. The 
capital of this tribe was southwest of 
Newcomerstown a number of miles on 
the Hockhocking river. 

The Wolf tribe of the Delaware Nation 
is sometimes called the Monseys, and 
you will find that name used more often 
probably than the English interpretation 
" Wolf." However, to avoid confusion, 
we will use the English, and hence will 
continue to call this the " Wolf" tribe. 
Their capital was at Kaskaskunk, on the 
Big Beaver River, in Pennsylvania, just 
across the Ohio line. King Pakanke 
was the head chief of this tribe. Captain 
Pipe was his war chief, and later, became 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 15 

the principal chief of that tribe. Captain 
Pipe was the opposite of White Eyes in 
many respects. While White Eyes was 
patriotic, Captain Pipe was selfishly ambi- 
tions. While White Eyes was striving 
to remain at peace with other nations and 
with the whites, Cay tain Pipe, desiring 
to get a reputation as the foremost war- 
rior in the land, was in favor of war on 
the slightest pretext. 

Jnst about six years before, almost all 
the Indians east of the Mississippi were at 
war with the whites under the leadership 
of Pontiac. Captain Pipe was one of 
the Delaware chiefs who fought in that 
war. Before it ended, Colonel Boquet, 
an English officer, with an army of about 
fifteen hundred men marched to the 
Delaware country. The mere sight of 
an arm v of that size with glistening bay- 



16 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

onets and deadly guns had the desired 
effect, and the Delawares were willing to 
make a treaty of peace. But Colonel 
Boquet feared treachery, and required a 
number of chiefs to be sent to Pittsburg 
with him as hostages. Captain Pipe and 
Captain Johnny were two of those 
selected. While White Eyes was willing 
to put confidence in the Americans, Cap- 
tain Pipe, from some experiences had in 
Pittsburg with the whites, while a host- 
age, had his mind full of the wrongs the 
Indians were suffering at the hands of 
the white men, and mistrusted their 
every action. 

One other man who belonged to the 
Wolf tribe, and to whom I want to in- 
troduce you, is Glikkikin. Before 
Captain Pipe had attained the appoint- 
ment as war chief of the Wolf tribe, 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 17 

Glikkikin held that position, and was the 
confidential adviser of King Pakanke. 
Glikkikin had not only the confidence of 
Pakanke, but of all the warriors. Dur- 
ing Pontiac's War to which I have re- 
ferred, Glikkikin's daring brought him 
fame which was spoken of in every Indian 
tribe east of the Mississippi. Then, he 
too, was not only a warrior, but an 
orator, and could sway the minds of his 
hearers in council, or change the opinion 
of individuals in conversation by his per- 
suasive eloquence. 

Zeisberger, the white missionary at 
Friedenshutten, and his helpers had been 
preaching to the Indians in the country 
a short distance from Kaskaskunk. 
Many Indians attended his preaching, 
and interest was awakened in the new 
religion. But the Indians had a religion 



18 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

of their own. They believed in a happy 
hunting ground where they would go 
when they died, and believed that certain 
requirements were necessary on their 
part before they would be entitled to live 
in that country after death. Some of 
their religious practices seem foolish. 
One teaching was that the more they 
could vomit, the purer would be their 
souls. This, of course, was not a very 
healthful practice, for some of them who 
were religiously inclined took emetics 
continually, and nearly killed themselves 
in thus practicing their religion. 
But however foolish these practices 
might be, that was what they were 
taught, and that was the theory 
many of them believed. King Pa- 
kanke was a firm believer in this 
Indian theory of religion, and when he 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 19 



heard of this new preacher inducing the 
Indians to forsake the Indian religion, 
lie thought such preaching should be 
stopped. The old Indian was no doubt 
honest in his belief, for he had the idea 
that all other religions could be over- 
thrown by argument. Glikkikin had 
never known defeat in debate. Frederick 
Post, the Moravian missionary, who ac- 
companied Washington on his trip over 
the Allegheny Mountains to Fort Du- 
quesne (Pittsburg) just at the beginning 
01 the French and Indian War, had made 
a trip to the Tuscarawas Valley eight 
years before, and in his conversations 
with the Indians he became involved 
in a debate with Glikkikin. The 
Indians regarded Glikkikin as the 
victor in this contest. As Zeisberger 
was j>rcaching the same doctrine taught 



20 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



by Post, Pakanke requested Glikkikin 
to meet Zeisberger in debate and dis- 
close the fallacies of the Christian 
religion. Glikkikin set out on this 
mission full of confidence in his power 
to combat any argument Zeisberger 
might offer. As lie approached the 
hut in which Zeisberger was staying 
he decided to hear the missionary's argu- 
ment first so he could the better prepare 
his answer. When he arrived at the 
door of the cabin, Zeisberger was not 
there, but the Indian Anthony, who had 
previously acknowledged Christianity 
received him. He gave him food as was 
the custom, and immediately began to 
explain the Christian religion. Glik- 
kikin listened first with a feeling of con- 
tempt. Anthony was telling him some- 
thing new, however, and his contempt 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 21 

soon turned to a spirit of inquiry. When 
this spirit is aroused in a man, there is 
hope for a good cause. Glikkikin's 
inquiries were being satisfied when Zeis- 
berger entered and further explained 
Christianity to him. > His savage nature 
softened. His argument, intended to 
overthrow Christianity, could not an- 
swer the story of love. All he could 
say was " I believe your words," and 
Glikkikin, the great war captain, whose 
very name was a synonym of dan- 
ger to his enemies, resolved to become 
a Christian. The energy he had in- 
tended to use against the gospel, he now 
determined to use to promote it. 

It was not an easy matter to make such 
a decision and to carry it out. The 
teachings of one's fathers which have 
been handed down from generation to 



22 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

generation are hard to forsake, and the 
conviction that it is one's duty to adopt 
another system must be strong indeed to 
overcome the teaching of childhood. A 
greater obstacle to overcome is the in- 
fluence exerted by the living. When a 
man changes radically the habits of life, 
those who were former associates gen- 
erally look upon him as an oddity. This 
is true in civilized life, and how much 
more so in savage life, where people are 
influenced by superstition. 

Glikkikin returned to the capital. The 
news of his conversion, and what IV 
kanke thought was his defeat, preceded 
him. When they met, King Pakanke 
rebuked him severely for such conduct, 
but Glikkikin answered in a most deter- 
mined manner that his intention was to 
follow the missionaries and their teach- 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 23 

ings, and urged all his people to hear the 
gospel. In taking this stand he was 
compelled to resign his position as war 
chief, and Pakanke no longer regarded 
him as his confidential adviser. Captain 
Pipe succeeded him to these positions. 

Glikkikin was a man who could be 
trusted. The warriors he had led in 
battle during Pontiac's War knew it. 
Although he had now turned from his 
former practices ; was no longer their 
war chief, and was not now Pakanke's 
principal adviser, yet many were his true 
friends and loved him still. Then, too, 
the preaching of the missionaries con- 
tinued, and others were converted, among 
them Captain Pipe's wife. The result 
was that in a council shortly after Glik- 
kikins conversion, the majority of the 
councilors expressed a desire to have the 



24 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

gospel preached to their people, and later 
their regard for Zeisberger led to his 
adoption into their tribe. Captain Pipe, 
however, from that time on was a leader 
of a faction of the Delawares opposed to 
the gospel. 

Here we can take up the thread of our 
story of the mission at Friedenshutten, 
which we learned was about to be aban- 
doned. Through the influence of Glik- 
kikin the entire body of Moravian In- 
dians was invited by the Wolf tribe to 
settle in their country. Many of them 
moved and built the town of Friedens- 
stadt. This town, it will be remembered, 
was in Pennsylvania. 

Zeisberger, however, desired to pen- 
etrate farther into the interior, so early 
in the spring of 1771 he, in company 




Rev. D. Zeisbp:rger. 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 25 

with Glikkikin and several other In- 
dians, made his lirst visit to Ohio. 

They stopped at Newcomerstown, and 
in the house of King Newcomer at 
this place, Zeisberger preached the 
first Protestant sermon delivered in the 
State of Ohio. Glikkikin also talked 
with the warriors, and before they left 
King Newcomer had invited them with 
the Moravian Indians to make their 
homes in the Tuscarawas Valley under 
the protection of the Delaware Nation. 
Our friends returned to Friedensstadt, 
however, without accepting the invita- 
tion. 

At this time White Eyes was taking a 
very extended trip. He had some time 
before left Newcomerstown for New 
Orleans, and from there he sailed to New 
York, and then traveled across the 



26 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

country through Philadelphia to New- 
comerstown. In this trip he had seen 
something of the world outside his little 
savage circle, and his ideas of what con- 
stituted a nation were modified from 
what they had been previously. His 
ideas were broadened, and when the 
matter of the removal of the Christian 
Indians was presented to him on his 
return, both he and King Newcomer in- 
sisted that the missionaries move to their 
country, and sent messengers to Fried- 
ensstadt with renewed invitations. 

Captain Pipe disliked to see the mis- 
sions prosper. His ambition to become 
a distinguished warrior like Pontiac was 
hindered by the teachings of the mis- 
sionaries. The faction of which he was 
the leader tried in every possible way to 
nullify the missionary influence. The 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. Zi 

Moravians appealed to Pakanke, but 
Captain Pipe had gained so much in- 
fluence in the tribe that the protection 
was refused, and when the second invita- 
tion came to move to the Tuscarawas 
Valley, the Moravian Indians determined 
to accept it. 

In March, 1772, Zeisberger and Glik- 
kikin set out for the Tuscarawas Valley 
a second time, this time to select a home. 
They reached the Tuscarawas River on 
their westward journey near the northern 
boundary of Tuscarawas County, and from 
that point they floated down the Tusca- 
rawas in a canoe. One morning they came 
to a beautiful lake about a mile long, and 
running their canoes into it they found 
the location pleasing. They got out near 
a spring and explored the surrounding 
country more carefullv- It was an ideal 



28 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



place, and here Zeisberger determined to 
make his future home. The spring at 
which they first stopped seemed to sug- 
gest the name, so the future town was 
christened " Schoenbrunn." 

Zeisberger and Glikkikin then visited 
the Indian government at Newcomers- 
town again to converse with the chiefs 
about obtaining the land they had se- 
lected. They found that the tract which 
Zeisberger thought so suitable was the 
one King Newcomer had also chosen for 
the site for a mission. On this occasion 
occurred a memorable meeting between 
White Eyes and Glikkikin. White Eyes, 
a savage, the war chief of the Turtle 
tribe and confidential adviser of King 
Newcomer, and Glikkikin, who had held 
similar offices in the Wolf tribe under 
King Pakanke, but who had resigned 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 29 

them to lead a Christian life. They 
walked and talked alone together about 
religion and the future of their nation. 
Each found the other possessed the true 
qualities of manhood, and a bond of 
friendship was formed between them 
which was never broken. 

Everything being satisfactorily ar- 
ranged, Zeisberger and Glikkikin hast- 
ened back to Friedensstadt to bring the 
first colony of Moravians to Ohio. A few 
weeks later five families were on their 
way to the West, and on the 3rd of May, 
1772, the town of Schoenbrunn was start- 
ed with twenty-eight inhabitants. This 
band came earlier than their brethren to 
plant crops and prepare for the comma' 
of those who had been left at home to 
make arrangements for moving their 
goods. They had many household arti- 



30 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



cles to transport, as they had the same con- 
veniences used by other civilized people. 
No household articles could be procured 
in the wilderness, for that term describes 
the country they were going to, and all 
the goods they desired were necessarily 
transported on horseback or by hand. 
Among the articles they desired to take 
with them was the old church bell which 
had so often called them to worship. Tt 
had been their pleasure to hear its echo- 
ing tones calling them to worship each 
morning before they began their daily 
work, and the custom became part of 
their lives. The bell was mounted on a 
platform, and four men were detailed to 
carry this one article. They had seventy 
head of cattle, and more than that num- 
ber of horses to drive with them. The 
woods through which they traveled were 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 31 

dense and full of swamps and under- 
growth and the air full of sand flies. 
They started on the 11th of June and 
arrived at Schoenbrunn the following 
August. 

Almost immediately after their arrival 
at Schoenbrunn they had a conference and 
drew up a set of rules for their govern- 
ment. The building of the church was 
next given special attention. It must be 
remembered that at that time saw mills 
were unknown in Ohio. If boards were 
wanted the quickest way to procure them 
was to roll a log on a platform and saw 
it lengthwise with a crosscut saw. If 
squared logs were wanted they were 
squared with an ax. Regardless of the 
labor thus necessary to build, they put 
special and first attention to their church 
in order to make it the most prominent 



32 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



building in the town. It was of good 
size, built of squared logs, the roof was 
of split shingles, and the windows made 
of deer skins. Although this brief de- 
scription may picture a very crude struct- 
ure, yet, comparing it with the wilder- 
ness and bark huts and wigwams of the 
uncivilized Indians, the church was a 
prominent mark of civilization, and the 
Indians so regarded it. The old church 
bell which they had so cheerfully toiled 
to bring through the forest was hung in 
a small cupola on the church. On Sep- 
tember 19, 1772, the chapel was dedi- 
cated, and on that day the first church 
bell ever rung in Ohio sent its musical 
peals echoing among the hills of Tusca- 
rawas Valley. After the church, the 
school house was constructed, and then 
attention was put to building their pri- 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 33 

vate houses, so, in time, Schoenbrunn con- 
tained more than sixty houses built of 
squared timber, besides a number of huts 
and lodges. 

So far we have noted only two com- 
panies of emigrants to the settlement of 
Schoenbrunn. On the day before Schoen- 
brunn chapel was dedicated, a third com- 
pany arrived under the leadership of 
Joshua, one of the earliest Indian con- 
verts who had been chosen as a helper 
to Zeisberger. These were Mohicans. 
Immediately after their arrival they se- 
lected a site near Canal Dover for their 
mission. King Netawatwes was not 
pleased with this selection, however, as 
he desired them to build south of Schoen- 
brunn at a place he and Zeisberger se- 
lected. So the colony moved from their 
their camp at Canal Dover, and on Octo- 



34 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



ber 9, 1772, Joshua, the Mohican, began 
the construction of old Gnadenhutten. 
Here, too, their spirit of devotion was 
shown by building their chapel first, 
and then their homes. This colony 
also knowing that their settlement 
would be some distance from Schoen-' 
brunn brought a bell for their own 
chapel. 

In both Schoenbrunn and Gnadenhut- 
ten the inhabitants were all Christians. 
Although the savages were invited to visit 
the missions, yet it w r as one of their rules 
that no unbelieving Indian and no whites 
except their teachers should make the 
missions their regular home. Their fel- 
lowship was shown, not only by the fact 
that they toiled in common and that the 
income from their industry went into a 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 35 

common fund, but it was shown in their 
dealings with all people. 

When a traveler, white or Indian, 
Christian or unbelieving, passed through 
the missions, he was fed. Whenever 
any one in trouble made a request, if the 
circumstances would possibly permit, 
such request would be granted. So it 
was when war parties of Indians with 
prisoners would pass through these towns, 
every effort to secure their release, either 
by petition or the payment of ransom, 
would be made. Every day the church 
bell called them to morning prayers be- 
fore the day's work began. Such was 
the daily life of the Moravian Indians. 

Order, neatness, and industry were 
also required of all the inhabitants. 
The towns were laid out with 
broad streets, which were always kept 



36 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



clean. Each house was surrounded by 
a picket fence. The gates and doors 
hung on wooden hinges, and the old 
time latch strings hung through a hole 
in the door, which when pulled inside 
the house answered all the requirements 
of a lock. Many of the inhabitants were 
farmers, and they had cleared some of 
the rich river bottoms on the western 
side of the Tuscarawas River where 
they raised corn, potatoes, and other 
crops and vegetables. They had large 
herds of hogs, cattle, and horses. 
Not all were farmers, however, as it 
was necessary that the trades should 
be represented also. Some were smiths, 
some carpenters, and some worked at 
other trades. Joshua, the Mohican who 
founded Gnadenhutten, was a cooper. 
He especially was ingenious with tools, 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 37 



and had a reputation for building pre+ty 
canoes and making handsome gun stocks. 
At one time he made a spinnet for their 
chapel and he was the musician. The re- 
sults were apparent. These examples of 
industry, order, happiness, and content- 
ment were the silent forces which were 
changing the lives of the Indians who 
came in contact with the mission. 

The principal trail used by the nations 
and tribes of Southern Ohio and Ken- 
tucky, in traveling north, passed through 
the Tuscarawas Yalley. When the In- 
dians made trips through this valley they 
would always stop at Newcomerstown to 
pay their respects to King Newcomer and 
his council, and from the novelty of the 
missions, and because the Moravian In- 
dians had a reputation for hospitality, 
thev would then visit Gnadenhutten and 



38 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

Schoenbrunn. On such occasions the 
Moravian Indians would not only show 
by their examples their principles of 
living, bnt the missionaries or converts 
would stop their work to preach the 
gospel. All who thus visited these 
settlements were doubly impressed with 
Christianity, and the seeds were in 
this manner sown broadcast through- 
out the Indian country. Many of the 
head men of the nation joined the 
missions, among them Captain Johnny, 
who resigned his chiefship in the Turkey 
tribe to live with the Christians. 

The energy of Zeisberger and his fel- 
low workers was unbounded, however. 
As if the living examples, and the teach- 
ing those who came to the missions were 
not enough, frequent trips were made to 
the Indian towns of the surrounding 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 39 

country. Newcomerstown especially was 
visited frequently, and here Glikkikin 
used his natural powers of oratory in 
discussing and explaining the religion he 
had adopted. 

Other nations were also visited, among 
them the Shawnees. 

As an item of interest in the history 
of the missions it is related that on July 
4, 1773, John Lewis Roth was born at 
Gnadenhutten, of whom it is said that 
he was the first white child born in Ohio. 

When Gnadenhutten was about two 
years old, a war occurred which tested 
the missions. It may be proper to ex- 
plain that at this time the present States 
of Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, In- 
diana, Illinois, and the part of Pennsylva- 
nia in which Pittsburg is situated, were 
claimed by Virginia, and went under the 



40 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

name of Augusta County. Rather a 
modest name for such an extended terri- 
tory we would now think. An English 
Lord, Dumore, was governor of Virginia, 
and was very anxious to colonize the 
country along the Ohio River with Eng- 
lish. As I have before suggested, there 
was always contention on the borders of 
civilization which generally led to war, 
and it was so in this instance. The In- 
dians along the Ohio, the Shawnees and 
Mingoes, did not trust the whites, and 
the whites mistrusted the Indians. Corn- 
stalk was the head chief of the Shawnees, 
and Logan the war chief of the Mingoes. 
Both of these men were of more than 
ordinary foresight and statesmanship. 
Both were friends of the white people, 
and although they were not Christians, 
they endeavored to keep their warriors 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 41 

at peace with their white neighbors. It 
so happened, however, that two Chero- 
kee Indians from the south came to visit 
Schoenbrunn in the spring of 1774. When 
they were returning to their home they 
met two white traders with whom they 
got into trouble, and the brawl ended in 
the murder of the traders. This act 
was the commencement of Dunmore's 
war. The white settlers in the vicinity 
in a spirit of revenge, made an attack on 
a number of Indian families, and among 
those killed was the entire family of the 
Mingo Chief Logan. This act made 
Logan's friendship for the whites turn to 
hate, and with a man of such influence 
in favor of war, the Indians could not be 
restrained. The entire Shawnee tribe 
and the greater part of the Mingo tribe 
went on the war path, and on October 



42 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

10, 1774, the famous battle of Point 
Pleasant was fought by the Indians un- 
der Cornstalk and Logan, and the Vir- 
ginians under Colonel Lewis. It is stated 
that this battle waged all day, and some 
historians claim it was the fiercest Indian 
battle ever fought. 

Returning to the Tuscarawas Valley, 
the war spirit of the Dela wares was 
aroused by the knowledge that their 
brothers were fighting in the south. 
White Eyes, with the help of Glikkikin 
and the missionaries, did all he could to 
maintain peace, and to keep his own 
people from engaging in the war. It 
was rumored, however, that Lord Dun- 
more intended to raid the Tuscarawas 
Valley and capture Kewcomerstown and 
perhaps Gnadenhutten and Schoenbrunn, 
and the brave White Eyes started for the 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 43 

seat of war alone, determined to prevent 
such a move if possible. He met Lord 
Dunmore, argued with him on his plan 
of invading the Tuscarawas Valley ; and 
finally persuaded him that such a pro- 
ceeding would not result in good, so 
Lord Dunmore ordered his men to return 
to Virginia while he negotiated a treaty 
of peace. AH was confusion in the Tus- 
carawas Y alley while White Eyes was 
away. A large band of them were 
preparing for war which they thought 
was imminent, but when White Eyes 
returned and told them the success of his 
undertaking, quiet was again restored. 

Zeisberger and Glikkikin had made 
two visits to the Shawnees before the war 
of 1774, but apparently no impression 
had been made upon them. Early in the 
spring of 1775 Chief Cornstalk, the leader 



44 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



in the war just closed, and the hero of the 
battle of Point Pleasant, came to Gnaden- 
hutten with thirty persons. The kird- 
ness with which he was received, and the 
object lesson of an Indian town advanced 
in civilization as was Gnadenhutten, had 
an effect on his mind, which it seems the 
preaching in his own country did not 
have. He attended the chapel service 
regularly, and although he is not classed 
as one of the converts, probably because 
he did not join the missions, yet, his subse- 
quent life shows a change in his char- 
acter. A year later he called again, and 
this time brought one hundred of his peo- 
ple to hear the gospel. In parting he took 
Mr. and Mrs. Schmick, the resident mis- 
sionaries at Gnadenhutten, by the hand 
and feelingly thanked them for the great 
kindness shown his people, and formally 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 45 

adopted them in his tribe. This, perhaps, 
was the last visit of the great Chief 
Cornstalk to Gnadenhutten, although the 
following spring he came as far as New- 
comerstown to consult with White Eyes 
on the question of war. The Revolution- 
ary War had begun. The English on 
the one side were endeavoring to obtain 
the Indians as allies, and the Americans 
on the other side were endeavoring to 
keep them at peace. Early in this struggle 
the Iroquois Nation joined the British, 
and their influence spread towards the 
West. The Shawnees, under Cornstalk, 
and the Delawares, under the influence 
of White Eyes, remained neutral. The 
British agents were pressing the matter 
very hard, and many of both tribes 
desired to join in the conflict. In the 
interests of peace, Cornstalk resolved to 



46 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

visit the garrison at Point Pleasant with 
two or three of his friends. They went. 
Cornstalk, in his straightforward manner 
which had been strengthened at least by 
his visits to Gnadenhutten, told the 
American commander of the great desire 
of his people to go to war again, and 
asked for advice to keep them neutral. 
The captain commanding, instead of giv- 
ing Cornstalk the advice he sought, or at 
least sending him back to his tribe to 
continue to nse his influence for peace, 
adopted the policy of making Cornstalk 
a prisoner to be kept as a hostage for the 
good behavior of his tribe. Very soon 
after, a white man was killed in the 
vicinity of the fort, and mad with rage, 
a party of men, friends of the unfortunate 
one, rushed to the fort where they knew 
Cornstalk was kept a prisoner, and with- 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 47 

out harrowing your minds with the man- 
ner, they killed him. Cornstalk had 
strong affection for a son who was visit- 
ing him at the time, and they died side 
by side without making an effort at 
self-defense. To show you the evident 
change which his visits to Gnadenhutten 
made, I quote his last words : " My son, 
the Great Spirit has seen fit that we 
should die together and has sent you here 
to that end. It is his will, let us sub- 
mit — it is all for the best." To the credit 
of the Americans it should be stated that 
the Governor of Virginia offered a re- 
ward for the apprehension of those who 
murdered Cornstalk, but it availed noth- 
ing, for they were never punished. 

The Shawn ees, stung to the heart at 
the death of their beloved chief in this 



48 MOEAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



manner, joined the British against the 
Americans. 

We will now return to the Tuscarawas 
Valley. During these troubles the Dela- 
wares continued at peace and the mis- 
sions- prospered. At the close of 1775 
there were over four hundred converts. 
The work being extended in this man- 
ner other missionaries were needed. 
John Heckewelder was sent to help in 
the work even before the establish- 
ment of Gnadenhutten. Heckewelder 
had visited the Tuscarawas Y alley as 
early as 1762 with Post, but on account 
of Pontiac's war they were compelled 
to leave. While here, however, Hecke- 
welder found a fast friend in White 
Eyes. Later, Mr. and Mrs. Koth, Mr. 
and Mrs. Schmick, and Mr. and Mrs. 
Jungman, moved to the mission. King 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 49 

Newcomer also was impressed with the 
necessity of giving them more land. He 
was a magnanimous old fellow, and sup- 
ported by the equal magnanimity of 
White Eyes, the Moravian Indians were 
given the land along the Tuscarawas 
River to below Newcomerstown. In 
making this gift it was necessary to re- 
move the Delaware capital, which was 
thereafter located at Coshocton. The 
spring following this removal King New- 
comer died. Kilbuck, his son, took his 
father's position, but White Eyes re- 
mained the head war chief and the con- 
fidential adviser of Kilbuck, and was 
regarded as the principal man in the 
tribe. He was the chief in fact, if not in 
name. 

But we hasten on. This time we stop 
at 1777. The Revolutionary war had 



50 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

progressed, and all the tribes surround- 
ing the Delaware Nation had joined the 
British, but the Delawares, influenced 
by having; the missions in their country, 
and by the strong, peaceful, and Chris- 
tianlike character of White Eyes, re- 
mained at peace, although the war had 
now been waging for more than two 
years. Opposed to White Eyes and the 
missions we have Captain Pipe, whom 
we know as the chief of the Wolf tribe. 
He was a shrewd politician as well as a 
warrior, and at this time the circum- 
stances were peculiarly fitting for him 
to increase his following, and he was not 
slow in making use of it. He used every 
opportunity which presented itself, and 
the war and peace factions of the nation 
grew to be so nearly equal in strength 
and numbers that the victories of either 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 51 

side were won by the smallest majorities, 
and, sometimes, when the question of 
peace or war was presented, peace was 
maintained by remarkable occurrences. 
Zeisberger and others who were interested 
in the missions knew if the Delaware 
Nation joined in the war, the missions 
would soon be broken up, the little band 
of Christians scattered, and the work of 
Christianizing the Delaware nation would 
be practically terminated. The princi- 
pal fear of the savage Delawares, and the 
argument which seemed to have the 
greatest influence upon them, was that 
the Americans would not be successful, 
and for their own protection they desired 
to be with the winning side at the close 
of the conflict. They knew the British 
were the stronger, and naturally thought 
it probable the stronger would win. 



52 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

There were no telephones, telegraphs, 
or railroads in those days, and the stage 
lines were not in existence west of the 
Allegheny mountains. All news was 
necessarily brought by private carrier, 
generally on horseback. Ko news of the 
war in the East had been heard for some 
time, and the condition of affairs in the 
Tuscarawas Y alley was getting somewhat 
critical from this circumstance of uncer- 
tainty. It was therefore determined to 
send a messenger to the East. It was 
now August, 1777, and it was not proba- 
ble that a messenger could make the trip 
and return to Grnadenhutten before fall. 
John Shebosh, who was connected with 
the Gnadenhutten Mission, was selected 
to make the trip, and John Hecke welder 
went with him to pay a visit to his 
friends in the East. Heckewelder in- 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 53 

tended to return the following spring 
and bring the news of what had tran- 
spired during the winter. 

Captain White Eyes, who at this time 
lived in his little cabin at White Eyes 
Plains, a short distance below Newcomers- 
town, heard of the intention of Hecke- 
welder and Shebosh to make this journey. 
Immediately on receiving this informa- 
tion he hurried to Heckewelder to offer 
the services of himself and some of his 
Indian friends to escort him safely as far 
as Pittsburg, " For," he said, " The 
Wyandots are at war and scouring the 
country between here and Pittsburg, and 
it is not safe for you two white men to 
travel alone." The escort was accepted. 
So Heckewelder, Shebosh, White Eyes, 
and several other Indians started through 
the dismal forest for Pittsburg, and from 



54 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

there Heckewelder and Shebosh contin- 
ued their journey alone, over the mount- 
ains towards the east. 

In the meantime the war faction did 
not cease its clamorings. Captain Pipe, 
with his gift of eloquence, was on every 
opportune occasion advancing the British 
cause, while White Eyes favored the 
Americans, or rather, favored neutrality. 
It is true White Eyes was supported by 
the missionaries, by Glikkikin, and others 
of the Christian Indians in this stand, 
but with all that there was room for fear 
as to the final outcome, as their neigh- 
bors had all gone on the war path, and 
their influence was assisting Captain 
Pipe. Events had reached such a crisis 
that peace was kept only by the power 
of persuasion on the part of White Eyes. 

The fall of 1777 came and passed away. 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 55 

The winter of 1777-78 came, and also 
was drawing to its close, but neither 
Shebosh nor Heckewelder had returned. 

Although the war chiefs usually de- 
cided whether or not war should be de- 
clared, yet as is done by officials of the 
present day, they desired to take no 
action disapproved by a majority of 
the people. Councils were called to 
determine the state of feeling existing in 
the tribe on certain subjects so the head 
men could act accordingly. 

It was the custom of all Indian tribes 
to choose the spring for beginning war. 
The near approach of spring was in Cap- 
tain Pipe's favor, and as the messengers 
did not return he determined to push the 
question of war to the front once more 
and make his best efforts, and through 
his influence the great council of the 



56 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

Delaware Nation was summoned to meet 
at Coshocton, the new capital, in Feb- 
ruary, 1778. The Indians of this nation 
gathered from far and near. The object 
of the council was known, and the ques- 
tion of war or peace w T as of the utmost 
importance. 

On the day appointed they gathered 
around the council fire, and Captain Pipe, 
as the leader of the war movement ad- 
dressed them. He recited the wrongs 
they had sustained at the hands of the 
whites. He reminded them of the fact 
that all the surrounding nations were 
at war with the Americans, even their old 
friends, the Shawnees, and explained the 
position they occupied in the midst of na- 
tions in conflict, not only bearing the brunt 
of the battle and having their motives dis- 
credited by other tribes, but that at any 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 57 

time, either the British or the Americans 
were liable to capture them and destroy 
their nation. There seemed to be so 
much truth in what Captain Pipe was 
saying that regardless of the fact that 
behind it all his object was the gratifica- 
tion of a selfish ambition, his hearers 
were in sympathy with his effort. He 
noted that fact and gained confidence as 
he proceeded, and in his final appeal he 
denounced every person who opposed 
immediate war as an enemy of the nation, 
and declared that every such person 
should be branded as a coward. 

Every Indian in that council knew the 
opinion White Eyes held on that subject, 
and every man knew that White Eyes, 
as leader of the peace faction would 
make a defense if one were possible, and 
the vast majority of those present deter- 



58 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

mined to follow the leader who won in 
this contest of debate. 

White Eyes was equal to the occasion. 
He had studied the interests of the nation 
from his youth, and the laws of cause and 
effect were as clear to him as to many 
statesmen of the present day. He wanted 
to see his people prosper, and he knew 
the only way to accomplish that end was 
to adopt civilization, and to avoid war 
except in case of self defense, which he 
thought had not yet arrived. He arose 
to his feet. All was quiet in expectancy. 
No doubt many Christians in that council 
were trembling for him. The faithful 
Glikkikin was there, and I can imagine 
him uttering a silent prayer for White 
Eyes' success. But nature had favored 
White Eyes. There he stood, calm, 
dignified, self-possessed, a savage Indian, 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 59 

and yet, one of nature's noblemen, plead- 
ing for the cause of American independ- 
ence, for the welfare of his nation, and 
for the safety of the missions. He began 
where Captain Pipe had finished, and 
referred to the charge of cowardice 
which was intended for him in taking 
the stand he did. He recalled the past, 
when he had led many of them in battle, 
and although he was not in favor of war 
now, yet, if war was the will of the 
council, he would go, and he would chal- 
lenge any of them to dare follow where 
he led. He referred to the kind treat- 
ment the commandant at Pittsburg had 
given them in times past, to the self-sacri- 
ficing labors of the missionaries in their 
midst, which was only for the good of the 
Indians, and with an argument which 
might have done credit to a Webster or 



60 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

a Pitt, lie exposed the fallacies indulged 
in by his opponent, Captain Pipe, and 
awakened in the savage breasts a desire 
for peace. The friends of the.peace policy 
were so numerous after White Eyes' 
speech that Captain Pipe was again in 
despair. 

But, although the victory seemed to 
belong to White Eyes in this instance, 
the contest was not finally won. Captain 
Pipe was defeated in argument, it is true, 
but at that juncture, Simon Girty ar- 
rived. Simon Girty was a white man 
He had been taken captive among the In- 
dians with his two brothers when a child, 
and had grown up with the savages. He 
was cunning, naturally, and sad to say, 
he did not have much moral principle. 
He was adopted by the Seneca tribe in 
New York. He soon became a leader 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 61 

among the Indians, grew to love war, 
and when he could induce them to plun- 
der and murder, he would do so. At the 
beginning of the Revolutionary war he 
was undecided as to which side he would 
join. The American commandant at 
Pittsburg was in need of an Indian in- 
terpreter, and Girty was pursuaded to 
join the Americans in that capacity. 
This work was not bloody enough for him, 
however, and in the spring of 1778 he 
turned traitor to the Americans, and with 
a small body of Indians left Pittsburg, 
going towards the Tuscarawas Valley. 
He arrived in Gnadenhutten, and hear- 
ing of the council in session at Coshocton 
he went to that place. Captain Pipe 
told him of his defeat. The designing 
minds of these two evil men then began 
anew to work. A report was started 



62 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

that the British had won victory after 
victory over the Americans who had 
been driven over the mountains, and 
were on their way to drive the Indians 
from the Ohio country. This report was 
not in accord with what White Eyes had 
told them in council, and here was a 
messenger, Simon Girty, who came direct 
from Pittsburg, who affirmed its truth. 
Under such a state of facts it seemed the 
Delaware Nation must go to war to pro- 
tect itself, and the war spirit was again 
aroused. 

White Eyes did not believe Girty's 
statement. He affirmed this belief to his 
followers again and again, but he had no 
proof to offer. Argument could not save 
them this time, it must be proof. If 
Shebosh or Heckewelder would only ar- 
rive all might be well, but, suppose 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 63 

Girty's story was true. Then Hecke- 
welder and Shebosh might be captured 
and never come. They had been gone 
six months already, and may have been 
captured or killed. The Delawares might 
be surprised by a night attack by the 
Americans and their villages destroyed 
before they could assume the defensive. 
These were the thoughts in the minds of 
the Indians. White Eyes realized the 
position. His lasting faith in the Amer- 
icans, with all these surmises, was strong, 
and his love for his nation and the mis- 
sions showed the highest patriotism. 
When the war spirit reached the point 
where he saw it could no longer be re- 
strained, he asked that ten days be al- 
lowed for preparation before starting the 
war parties. The council agreed. Ten 
days, no more, in which to hope for news 



64 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



from the east, and if it did not come there 
was to be war. 

While these days are passing, let us 
leave the scenes in Ohio and note the 
events in the East which had just trans- 
pired. The year 1777 had been a most 
eventful one in the history of the Revolu- 
tion. On January 3d of that year Wash- 
ington's forces, with the victory of Trenton 
of ten days before fresh in their minds, 
met the British at Princeton, and gained 
another victory. General Lafayette 
from France, Baron de Kalb, a military 
leader from Germ any, and Baron Steuben, 
a military engineer from Prussia had 
joined the American army and lent their 
experience and energy to the cause of 
American independence. At Benning- 
ton, in August, the British, two thousand 
strong, were met by a small body ot 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 65 

Green Mountain boys under Colonel John 
Stark, and after the battle the army of 
the British numbered less than two hun- 
dred, and the Americans held the field. 
The greatest victory of all was the sur- 
render of Burgoyne. His grand army of 
fourteen thousand strong had dwindled 
down to six thousand by the skirmishing 
tactics of the Americans, and these sur- 
rendered to General Gates at Saratoga. 
In these battles I have mentioned, the 
number of British who were captured or 
surrendered were about one-third of the 
entire British army in America. This 
was the news in the East. This was the 
information Shebosh was to carry to the 
waiting warriors on the banks of the 
Tuscarawas, which if brought in time 
would mean peace. If not, it would 
mean war for the Delaware Xation, loss 



66 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

of life for an imagined wrong, the aban- 
donment of the missions in the Tuscara- 
was Valley, and another strong enemy 
for onr fathers, struggling for their in- 
dependence, to overcome. 

But Shebosh was delayed and could 
not start in the fall as he intended. Then 
the winter of 1777-78 came on in all its 
severity. That was the winter Wash- 
ington's army spent at Yalley Forge, and 
to describe the extreme cold would sim- 
ply be repeating to you a known fact of 
history which all historians of the Kev- 
olutionary war dwell upon. Shebosh 
was compelled to remain in the East un- 
til spring, and it seemed spring would 
never come. 

Winter began to break the latter part 
of February so a journey could be at- 
tempted. It was then full six months 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 67 

since Heckewelder and Shebosh had 
left Gnadenhutten. The tribes of 
New York and Pennsylvania were on 
the war path, and the trip must be 
made under the greatest danger. No 
news had reached Gnadenhutten for so 
long, and the importance of the trip was 
so evident that the patriotism of Heck- 
ewelder, and his self-sacrificing love 
for the missions induced him to volunteer 
for the trip. Shebosh determined to go 
with him. His wife and children were 
in Gnadenhutten, and the ties of home 
and dear ones were incentive enough for 
him to face the dangers, so they set out 
towards Pittsburg. 

On their way they saw signs of de- 
struction everywhere. Severe as the 
winter had been, the Wyandots had 
made attacks on the lonelv settlers, and 



68 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

those they did not kill they had driven 
from home. On many a deserted cabin 
door was written with chalk or charcoal, 
" Travelers, avoid this road, the Indians 
are out murdering us." 

I will not dwell longer on this trip to 
Pittsburg. The fort was reached in 
safety. Colonel Hand, the commandant, 
greeted them kindly, and in exchange 
for the news they brought, told them of 
the desertion of Girty and his band, and 
of their going in the direction of Gnad- 
denhutten. Colonel Hand anticipated 
Girty's object to be to stir up the Indians 
throughout the West, and feared the 
Delawares were already on the war path. 
If they were not, there was one hope 
left, and that was to send a messenger 
who would give the true story of the con- 
dition of affairs to the Indians, for it was 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. *') ( .> 

rightfully presumed that Girty would 
misrepresent the condition to suit his 
purpose. Not one of the garrison at the 
fort would volunteer for the trip, as it 
was so full of danger, and Colonel Hand 
would not draft a man for such an un- 
dertaking. Heckewelder and Shebosh 
declared their intention of going to 
Gnadenhutten. Colonel Hand, moved 
with sympathy for what he thought a 
sacrifice of their lives, told them not to 
venture. Heckewelder, with his love for 
Zeisberger and the other missionaries ; 
Shebosh, with his love for his family, 
and both with a love for the missions and 
a desire to do anything in their power 
to protect them, expressed their calm de- 
termination to undertake the trip. Girty, 
however, had been gone about two weeks 
and he was a man of action. So Hecke- 



70 MOKAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

\felder and Shebosh were supplied with 
fresh horses, and started. You have read 
of famous rides. The ride of Paul Re- 
vere when warning the people of the ap- 
proach of the British was heroic, but he 
was riding through a community of 
friends. Sheridan's ride has been im- 
mortalized, but there was no enemy be- 
tween him and his army. But here are 
two riders on whose skill and success de- 
pended the peace or war of a nation. 
They were to ride through a country in- 
fested with Indians who were killing the 
whites wherever they met them. Their 
ride was through a wilderness, and in- 
stead of being only twenty miles away 
from their intended destination, they 
were over one hundred miles away. Their 
ride has not been commemorated in verse, 
and possibly some of you have never 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 71 

heard of it before, even in prose. Not 
that I would detract from the fame of 
Paul Revere or Phil Sheridan by the 
comparison, for they deserve the credit 
they receive, but I would that my readers 
should know of the heroic riders of the 
Tuscarawas Yalley. 

At Coshocton the first day after the 
agreement to wait ten days passed, but 
no news came. The second day passed, 
still no news. The third day passed, the 
fourth day, the fifth, the sixth, and the 
seventh arrived, but still no news. The 
Wyandot warriors, under their head 
chief, Half King, knew of the situation 
of affairs, and wanted the Delawares to 
join them in a body so they could inarch 
against the Americans in force. They 
desired also to impress the Moravian In- 
dians of their strength and purpose, and 



72 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

so they selected as the site for their en- 
campment a hill, northwest of Gnaden- 
hutten, known since as " Bluff Hill," 
where they, too, were waiting for the 
morning of the tenth day. Captain 
Pipe was rejoicing. He pictured to him- 
self his future. If he overcame White 
Eyes in this contest, which seemed 
probable, he would be recognized as the 
leading war chief of the Delaware tribe — 
an honor which among the Indians was 
the height of their ambition to attain. 
Among his men and those who had for- 
saken the hope of peace, all was activity. 
Tomahawks were sharpened, and they 
were painting themselves for the final 
dance, which was to take place before 
the march. Zeisberger and the faithful 
Glikkikin were on the ground to hold 
back, if possible, the onrushing tide of 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 73 

war and to uphold White Eyes with their 
prayers and presence. But now, even 
White Eyes was beginning to lose hope. 
His love for his nation was true patriot- 
ism. His motto was : " My country, may 
she ever be right, but right or wrong, my 
country forever." 

The seventh day passed without news, 
the eighth was fast passing, the last dance 
was ready to proceed, and every sound 
seemed to proclaim War ! War ! War ! 
Was all lost ? Were the prayers of Glik- 
kikin to be of no avail, and the plans 
and hopes of White Eyes and the life 
work of Zeisberger and his fellow mis- 
sionaries to be destroyed in one brief 
day ? It seemed so. Zeisberger, sick 
with anxiety for the future of his beloved 
missions retired from the scene to 
Lichtenau, a branch mission about two. 



74 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

miles from Coshocton, which was estab- 
lished shortly after the Delaware capital 
was moved. Glikkikin, who immediately 
after he was converted answered his king 
that where the brethren go, there will I 
go, was as determined as ever in that 
course, and intended to follow Zeisber- 
ger to the last. Zeisberger retired in 
secret to pray, and Glikkikin, hardly 
knowing where he was going, probably 
strolled towards the road which led from 
Gnadenhutten to Coshocton. Other 
Indians were along the road, as that was 
the one over which the warriors would 
no doubt start. Suddenly the keen ear 
of the Indian caught a sound like 
that of a horse on a gallop. He 
listened. It became more and more dis- 
tinct, and now he saw a man coming 
on horseback. He came closer. It was 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 75 

John Heckewelder with the messages of 
victory. He had ridden since leaving 
Pittsburg for three days and two nights. 
When he arrived at Gnadenhutten he 
saw the "Wyandot s camped on " Bluff 
Hill." He learned from the Moravian 
Indians the state of affairs at Coshocton, 
and leaving Shebosh at home with his 
family he took for his escort John Martin, 
one of the Indian helpers, rode on to 
Coshocton and arrived there just on 
the eve of the departure of the warriors. 
Iso time was to be lost, and Hecke- 
welder knew it, for merely giving a 
passing greeting he hurried on towards 
the town. When he arrived there he met 
White Eyes and greeted him, but White 
Eyes did not answer. Anticipating from 
what he had heard at Pittsburg and 
Gnadenhutten as to what was on their 



76 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

minds he stood up in his stirrups and 
addressed them. He told them of the 
American victories, of the good will the 
Americans retained for them, and of the 
papers he had brought as evidence. White 
Eyes' faith in his American brothers im- 
mediately returned. A council was sum- 
moned. The war beat of the drum which 
for the past twenty-four hours had not 
ceased, making the hearts of the Indians 
throb with thoughts of valor, was now 
changed to summoning a council. The 
warriors gathered. To introduce the 
matter to the council White Eyes arose, 
and in a speech in which he searched the 
very hearts of his hearers, he closed by 
asking, " Shall we, my friends and rela- 
tives, listen once more to those who call 
us brethren ? " A general shout of ap- 
proval arose and Heckewelder was called 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 77 

upon to address them. He took the 
papers from his saddle bag, read the let- 
ters from the American officers giving 
assurances of good will towards them, 
and ended his talk by translating an 
account of Burgoyne's surrender. 

Then White Eyes, filled with emotion 
at the occurronce, jumped to his feet again, 
and called attention to the evident object 
of Girty's deception, and that the English, 
knowing the destructful character of war 
were continually pressing upon them to 
fight, while the Americans advised them 
not to take up the hatchet against either 
side, but to remain at peace, and waving 
aloft the paper containing the account of 
Burgoyne's surrender he exclaimed, 
" See, my friends, this paper contains the 
truth." Ere this the warriors recognized 
Girty's trickery, and many of the war 



78 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

party, so numerous before, chagrined at 
being thus deceived, were in favor of 
maintaining peace. Heckewelder was 
the hero of the hour. White Eyes stepped 
up and shaking hands with him said, 
" you are welcome with us, brother," and 
the vast majority of the councilors fol- 
lowed the example. Girty and Half King 
saw the course events had taken against 
them, and with their bands, left on 
marauding expeditions. Captain Pipe 
with his disgruntled followers retired 
from the scene. He did not at that time 
go on the war path, but he continued 
secretly to oppose the Americans. 

Colonel Hand, the commandant at 
Pittsburg at this time, desired to follow 
up the victory thus won by White Eyes, 
Heckewelder and Zeisberger by making 
a treaty of peace with the Delawares, so 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 79 

he sent dispatches to Zeisberger, White 
Eyes and other leaders among the In- 
dians regarding the matter. Zeisberger 
and White Eyes were in favor of the 
project, so a number of prominent chiefs 
went to Pittsburg where they met An- 
drew and Thomas Lewis, the commis- 
sioners appointed by Congress to nego- 
tiate with them. On September 17, 1778, 
the treaty was prepared and signed. 
This was the first treaty made by the 
United States as a nation with any In- 
dian nation or tribe. White Eyes, who 
was considered the leader of the Dela- 
wares had the honor of being the first to 
sign it. The only other signatures on 
the part of the Indians are those of Kil- 
buck, the son of King Newcomer, who 
succeeded his father as sachem of the 
Delawares, and Captain Pipe. Although 



80 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

Captain Pipe's name appears on the 
treaty, it is very evident his true senti- 
ments were not expressed in it, for his 
subsequent acts show that he still re- 
mained an enemy to the Americans. 

The treaty first recited the fact of the 
mutual forgiveness of all offenses com- 
mitted by either party in the past, and 
that its object was a perpetual peace. 
During the war then in progress, the 
United States was to have the privilege of 
free passage through the Delaware coun- 
try to forts or towns of their enemies, and 
to be allowed to construct a fort in the 
Delaware country. The United States 
was to guarantee to the Delawares 
the privilege of keeping the land 
they then possessed, and the Delaware 
Nation was to invite other tribes to join 
them and from a State which should have 




p 



John Heckewelder. 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 81 

representatives in Congress when the 
latter body approved of the step. This 
had been one of the dreams of White 
Eyes, as he desired to see his people 
grow into a great nation like the one 
he had seen in his travels, and it was 
his ambition to be at the head of it. 
This, it seemed, was never to be. 

Although peace was maintained so long 
by the force of character of White Eyes, 
it • could not last. After the treaty at 
Pittsburg, while White Eyes was with 
General Mcintosh at Bolivar (the Ameri- 
cans were building Fort Laurens at that 
place in accordance with the treaty), 
White Eyes took the small pox, and just 
two months after the treaty was signed, 
he died, The leadership of the peace 
faction fell upon Kilbuck. He did 
not possess the powerful magnetism and 



82 MOKAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

influence of either his father or of White 
Eyes, and the first storm of war which 
broke, swept the Delaware Nation into 
the conflict as an enemy of the Ameri- 
cans. The Moravian Indians and a small 
remnant of the peace faction of the Dela- 
wares which remained loyal to Kilbuck, 
and which moved from Coshocton hack 
to Newcomerstown where Kilbnck made 
his headquarters, were alone in the great 
West in their policy for peace. 

From the death of White Eyes dates 
the persecution of the missionaries and 
converts at the Moravian missions. Bands 
of Shawnees, Wyandots and Delawares 
in their marauding expeditions would 
•make it an object to pass througn Gnad- 
enhutten and to encamp for a time at 
that place. They would demand sup- 
plies for their warriors, and the converts 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 83 

were compelled to furnish them for fear 
of loosing their lives. Not content with 
having their wants supplied, the warriors 
would destroy property for the mere grati- 
fication of their own sensual pleasure 
and annoy the converts in every possible 
manner. The worst enemies of the mis- 
sions seemed to be their own country- 
man, Captain Pipe and the trio of rene- 
gades, Simon Girty, Elliott and McKee, 
all three white men who were more than 
" Indian " in their savage nature. In 
one instance Girty, with a party of nine 
Mingo warriors, waylaid Zeisberger with 
an intention to capture or kill him, but 
as they were in the act of committing 
the deed, two Delaware Indians, who 
knew Zeisberger well, saw what was 
about to take place, and interfered, thus 
saving his life. On another occasion 



84 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

Heckewelder was on his way to Salem 
where he was to hold a meeting, when 
one of Captain Pipe's band attempted 
to take his life, but the sexton of the 
church, an old Indian named Tobias, 
came at that moment to call Heckewelder 
to the chapel, and frightened the would- 
be-murderer away. 

The Americans observed the fact that 
many Indians made the Tuscarawas Val- 
ley their rendezvous, and planned to send 
an expeditien there under Colonel Broad- 
head. Colonel Broadhead centered his 
army at Wheeling, West Virginia, and 
by a sudden maneuver pushed into the 
interior and captured and destroyed the 
Indian capital at Coshocton. He then 
marched to Newcomerstown. The mis- 
sionaries, who were further up the river 
heard of his coming, and went to New- 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 85 

comerstown, where they met Colonel 
Broadhead. The situation was explained 
and he recognized the fact that the 
inhabitants of Kewcomerstown, Gnaden- 
hutten, and Schoenbrunn were not ene- 
mies of the Americans. He had no 
desire to interfere with them, so he left. 
Immediately after he left, however, a 
large army of Delaware Indians, under 
chief Pachgantschihilas, arrived at Gnad- 
enhntten and demanded its surrender. 
Just then a rumor spread that the Ameri- 
cans knew of their presence at Gnaden- 
hutten and were returning to capture 
them, so the Dela wares hastily left the 
town. 

The Tuscarawas Yalley thus becoming 
fighting ground, and the Moravian In- 
dians and their friends refusing allegiance 
to the British cause when all other In- 



86 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

dians were their allies, and the presence 
of the Americans at Fort Laurens and 
elsewhere led the commandant in charge 
of the British post at Detroit to consider 
the Moravian Indians as American spies, 
and he determined to have the missions 
broken up. He called the Iroquois Na- 
tion into council and expressed his desire 
of having the missions destroyed, and 
placed the matter into their hands to be 
performed in any way they chose. The 
Iroquois Nation desired to obey the 
British, but they knew of no cause for such 
action, and desiring to shift the responsi- 
bility for the crime, they directed the 
Chippewa and Ottawa tribes to do the 
work. But they, although allies of the 
British, warriors and savages, declined. 
They declared that they would fight their 
enemies but not their friends, and that 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 87 

the Moravian Indians had always be- 
friended them. The Iroquois next re- 
quested the Wyandots to dispose of them. 
Half King, their leader, at first refused 
to be connected with any such scheme. 
Captain Pipe and Captain Elliott were 
with him, however, and they insisted on 
accepting the proposition of the Iroquois, 
and " doing away " with the missions. 
At last Half King consented to remove 
them peaceably to his own country which 
would satisfy the British, no doubt, and 
would save the Moravian Indians proba- 
bly from a worse fate. 

The plan was to be put into effect in 
the fall of 1781, and in August of that 
year an army of about three hundred 
Indians marched to Gnadenhutten and 
encamped at that town. This army was 
composed principally of "Wyandot war- 



88 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

riors under Half King and a number of 
dissatisfied Delawares under Captain 
Pipe. Captain Elliott, one of the trio of 
renegades, was also with them to make 
suggestions as to what he thought proper 
movements. 

Half King at first determined to use 
peaceful measures in accomplishing the 
removal of the Moravian Indians, and 
called them into council to have them 
determine the advisability of leaving. 
Arguments were advanced by Half King, 
Captain Pipe and Elliott, but the con- 
verts refused to. leave. Their corn was 
ripening, and their vegetables would 
soon be ready to gather. They had 
everything in plenty at Gnadenhutten, 
and they thought it meant starvation to 
go into an entirely new country, which 
was probably barren and cold, to spend 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 89 

the winter. They pleaded for just time 
to gather their crops, and promised that 
when winter came they would consider 
more favorably the proposition of moving. 

Half King saw the reasonableness of 
such a request and was willing to grant 
the favor. Captain Pipe and Captain 
Elliott, however, did not view the matter 
with regard to the welfare of the Mo- 
ravian Indians, and urged Half King to 
insist on their leaving. Their influence 
was not confined to merely persuading 
Half King to take peremptory measures, 
but it extended to the warriors as well, 
and the destruction of property, and 
cruelties practiced on the Moravians by 
these savages was in effect forcing them 
to submit. 

At this time a niece of Glikkikin was 
visiting her mother and relatives at 



90 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

Gnadenhutten. She saw the danger the 
Moravian Indians were in, and although 
she had come with the warriors and 
seemed to be their friend, she now de- 
termined to go to Pittsburg to inform 
the Americans of what was transpiring. 
She was a good rider, so unnoticed, she 
took Captain Pipe's favorite horse, the 
fleetest in the valley, and started for 
Pittsburg. She was not gone long be- 
fore Captain Pipe missed his horse, and 
then her absence was discovered. These 
two facts were immediately connected, 
and it was presumed that she had 
left to notify the Americans. Swift 
riders were sent after her, and Captain 
Pipe, whose hatred towards Glikkikin 
was still active, directed twelve of his 
men to bring Glikkikin to him, dead or 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 91 

alive. He blamed Glikkikin for the 
work of his niece. 

Heckewelder had started a little set- 
tlement called Salem near the present 
town of Port Washington, the year he- 
fore, and there they found Glikkikin. 
They made him a prisoner, and brought 
him to Gnadenhutten. 

Our rider to Pittsburg was overtaken 
and captured, but by her prowess she 
escaped a second time and made her way 
to Pittsburg. This unsuccessful attempt 
to keep the news from the Americans at 
Pittsburg was another argumeut for 
speedy action on the part of the "Wyandots. 
They were now in danger of being cap- 
tured themselves, and desired to retire 
north to their own country as speeily as 
possible to avoid any such results. 
Goaded with the taunts of Captain Pipe 



92 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

and Captain Elliott that if his army re- 
treated without capturing the Moravian 
Indians, they would become the laughing 
stock of other nations, Half King directed 
that the missionaries and converts be 
made prisoners, and that the march to- 
ward the north should take place as soon 
as possible. The order was put into 
effect on September 11, 1781, and the 
Wyandot and Delaware armies started 
north with the Moravian Indians as pris- 
oners of war, and they were thus com- 
pelled to turn their backs to their own 
homes. In speaking of this occurrence 
Heckewelder says : " Never did the 
Christian Indians leave a country with 
more regret. Three beautiful settlements, 
Gnadenhutten, Schoenbrunn, and Salem, 
were now to be forsaken, together with 
many of their young cattle that were in 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 93 

the woods, with some hundred head of 
hogs, and at least three hundred acres of 
corn, potatoes, turnips, cabbage, etc , 
were now lost to them, together with 
books that were burnt, many of which 
were for the instruction of the youth." 

I will not relate the sufferings of the 
march, but suffice to say that just one 
month after starting we find our Moravian 
friends in the wilderness near Sandusky. 
Here the Wyandot army disbanded, the 
warriors returned to their homes, and the 
leaders of the expedition to Detroit to 
spend the winter. The few supplies the 
Moravian Indians brought were soon ex- 
hausted. There was no game in the 
country and no other means of support 
for them. The settlers who had corn for 
sale asked a dollar for three or four 
quarts, but the Indians had no money 



94: MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

with which to buy. The women en- 
deavored to dig edible roots, but the 
ground was frozen, and, if they expected 
to find a barren wilderness, their expecta- 
tions were more than realized. From 
this necessity some of the Indians were 
sent back to Schoenbrunn and Gnaden- 
hutten to obtain corn, but the road was a 
hard, dangerous, and long one. To travel 
one way required from five to six days, 
and the meager facilities for transporta- 
tion prevented them from bringing a 
sufficient supply. The diary of Zeisber- 
ger is full of the sufferings of this winter. 
The savages seemed pleased at the state 
of affairs, for they said, " Now you are 
on a level with us." In this condition 
they wandered from one place to another 
trying to find a location for the winter 
where they might at least have wood for 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 95 

fires. They finally settled at a place we 
now know as Captive's Town. Here 
they built another church and a few huts 
for the winter. 

Time passed on with scant food, scant 
clothing, far away from where they could 
obtain either, and in a strange country 
and with a cold winter, until February, 
1782, when a number resolved once 
more to visit their old homes to get 
corn. Following out this resolution a 
band of about one hundred and fifty 
under the leadership of John Shebosh 
started. They took all their horses along 
so they could carry as much corn back 
with them as possible. 

The trip to the old settlements was 
made without any special event of in- 
terest. On arrival, the band divided into 
detachments, one going to Schoenbrunn, 



96 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

one to Salem, and the other remained at 
Gnadenhutten, all working toward the 
common end of procuring corn to carry 
back to Captive's Town. 

Early in March, after this band had 
started for the Tuscarawas Valley, plans 
were arranged for the removal of the 
camp or settlement at Captive's Town 
to Fremont, then known as Lower San- 
dusky. 

Those remaining at Captive's Town 
were glad and ready to make the change 
excepting for the fact that their people at 
the old settlements had their horses, and 
there was no way to move the few goods 
brought with them when they left the 
Tuscarawas Valley the fall before. They 
also desired that all the Moravian In- 
dians go with them. Messengers were 
sent to the Tuscarawas Valley to hasten 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 97 

their return, but as these messengers were 
gone for some days and did not return, 
still others were sent. 

The savage Indians during the winter 
of 1781-'82 had committed many depre- 
dations, and the hoarder settlements in 
Pennsylvania and Virginia were in con- 
tinual danger. The occupants of the 
lonely cabins which formed the outposts 
of civilization were compelled to leave 
their homes, and many of them were 
murdered. Among the latter was Mrs. 
Wallace and her child, who were at that 
time living near the Ohio River. While 
her husband was absent the horrible deed 
was committed. This condition of affairs 
called for severe measures on the part of 
the settlers, and the knowledge that a 
near' friend or relative had been killed 
by the Indians worked the spirit of re- 



98 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

venge to a frenzy. After the murders 
were committed the savages would re- 
treat towards the West, and a wrong idea 
prevailed among some that the Moravian 
Indians were the principal actors in 
these outrages, and others believed their 
settlements in the Tuscarawas Yalley to 
be the starting point of these expeditions, 
and that those Indians, if not the prin- 
cipals in such affairs, were at least re- 
sponsible for them. The frontier settlers 
in Pennsylvania and Virginia determined 
to break up these missions, and to pro- 
ceed as far as Sandusky, if necessary, to 
destroy the entire band of Moravian 
Indians. 

This company of men who took the 
matter in hand is sometimes known as 
Pennsylvania militia, but it is proper to 
say that there was no regularly organ- 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 99 

ized company which derived authority 
from the United States, or the Star.- qf 
Pennsylvania or Virginia. On the other 
hand, the United States officials had al- 
ways been friendly to the Moravians. 
In the fall of 1781, at the time when the 
first journey was made from Captive's 
Town to the Tuscarawas Valley for corn, 
Shebosh and five Moravian Indian- were 
captured by whites and taken to Pitts- 
burg as prisoners of war. Colonel Gib- 
son, the commandant at that post at that 
time, promptly released them. 

The resolution to destroy the Moravian 
settlements originated in a little frontier 
town in Pennsylvania, and immediately 
upon the suggestion a number of men 
decided to go. Colonel David William- 
son was chosen the commander of the 
expedition, and immediately after the 



100 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

plan was formed, those favoring it took 
up their march towards Gnadenhutten. 
On, the march, a number of adventurers 
who enjoyed killing Indians simply for 
sport joined them. In this manner the 
company increased to about two hundred 
men. It is stated that many who joined 
this expedition did not tell their own 
family of the purpose of the trip, or 
where they were going. As it was purely 
a volunteer company, each man furnished 
his own ammunition, arms, and provis- 
ions, and those who were mounted fur- 
nished their own horses. 

The Indians at Gnadenhutten had some 
knowledge of the temper of the frontier 
settlers. They were aware of the fact 
that the savage Indians had begun their 
marauding expeditions early in February, 
or in fact, had not ceased them during 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 101 

the entire winter just passed. Early in 
March a white man coming through 
Gnadenhutten told them of the murder 
of Mrs. Wallace and her child, and that 
a company of whites was forming to re- 
venge these deaths, and that their inten- 
tion was to kill every Indian they met, 
whether savage or Christian. This aroused 
some fear, and a meeting of the leading 
Moravian Indians then in the Tuscarawas 
Valley was called to determine what 
should be done in case the whites can if 
upon them. Some thought they should 
scatter through the woods, and others 
thought they should place enough faith 
in the Americans to disbelieve any re- 
ports that the Americans intended harm, 
and should treat them as friends. 
It was finally settled that each person 
should act in accordance with his Benti- 



102 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

ments. If he felt fearful, lie might run 
away, and if not, he might do otherwise. 
It was decided, however, to complete 
their work the following day, and leave 

Jv^ Captive's Town on March 7. 

/ Colonel Gibson at Pittsburg heard of 

the gathering of Williamson's company, 
and immediately sent messengers to the 
Tuscarawas Valley to warn the Moravian 
settlements of their danger, but by that 
time Williamson and his men were near- 
ing the towns. 

On March 5, 1782, the same day the 
Moravian Indians had their council to 
determine the action they should take in 
case the whites approached them, this 
company arrived within a mile of Gnad- 
enhutten where they encamped for the 
night. The following morning they re- 
connoitered, and finding a number of In- 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 103 

dians were in the vicinity, they deter- 
mined upon the plan of attack. The 
entire command was formed into two 
divisions. One was to cross to the west- 
ern side of the river and attack the 
Indians there, while the other division 
was to be divided into three detachments 
which were to attack the town from dif- 
ferent points simultaneously. 

The first division found difficulty in 
crossing the river, as it was full of float- 
ing ice, but by the use of a large Bap 
trough which answered the purposes of a 
canoe, and by swimming, sixteen of them 
managed to cross. 

The first person they met was Joseph 
Shebosh, the son of one of the heroes of 
the ride from Pittsburg to Gruadenhutten 
which I have related. He was endeavor- 
ing to catch his horse which had strayed 



104 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

away from him along the river bank, 
when one of Williamson's men observed 
him and shot, breaking his arm. A num- 
ber of Williamson's men then gathered 
aronnd him. He plead for his life, but 
in vain. The thirst for blood was aroused, 
and, regardless of the fact that the father 
of Shebosh was a white man, and had 
served the Americans so nobly, and with 
so much danger to himself, they killed 
him with their hatchets. Another Indian 
named Jacob was working close to the 
place where the whites were crossing, 
and was about to make his presence 
known when he saw one of the 
whites on the eastern bank fire at an 
Indian some distance down the river who 
was getting into a canoe. The Indian 
fell, apparently dead. Jacob w T as so 
frightened at the occurrence that he ran 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 105 

into the woods and hid himself for a day 
and a half before he ventured to give the 
alarm. 

Quite a number of the Moravian In- 
dians were at work in the fields tying up 
corn preparatory to starting for Captive's 
Town on the morrow. Most of them 
had their guns with them. So few of 
the whites got across the river that 
they found themselves greatly out num- 
bered, and they quickly adopted another 
plan. Jacob was the only Indian who 
knew the probable intention of the whites, 
and he was too frightened to give the 
alarm. Shebosh was not yet missed, and 
it was probable that they could gain agreat 
advantage by acting as friends and thus 
gain the Indians' confidence. S,». ap- 
proaching to where they were working, 
the whites accosted them in a friendly 



106 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

manner, and in conversation sympathized 
with them in their troubles with the 
Wyandots. They told them the object 
of their coming to Gnadenhutten was to 
take them back to Pittsburg as friends, 
and not as prisoners, and their wants 
would be supplied until after the war. 
At the mention of Pittsburg, no doubt, 
they recalled the kind treatment extended 
by Colonel Gibson to some of their num- 
ber who had been taken there as pris- 
oners but a few months before, and from 
the fact that the men to whom they were 
speaking were Americans, in whom the 
Moravians had the utmost confidence, 
there was very little persuasion needed 
to induce them to accept the proposition 
of going to Pittsburg, and they agreed to 
go to Gnadenhutten immediately to make 
preparations for the proposed journey. 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 1<>7 

The mask of friendship of the whites was 
perfect, and the confidence placed in 
them by the Indians was sincere. All 
requests made by the whites were cheer- 
fully complied with, and upon the repre- 
sentation that all things would be re- 
turned on arrival at Pittsburg, even their 
guns and other weapons of defense were 
surrendered. 

The division which intended to attack 
the town of Gnadenhutten carried out 
the project. The attack was made, but 
they found only one defenseless woman 
there, whom they killed, and so had pos- 
session of the town when they saw the 
other division approaching, peaceably 
conversing with the Indians they had 
crossed the river to murder. This may 
have caused some surprise to those who 
had taken possession of Gnadenhutten, 



108 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

but, quickly grasping the situation they 
also acted the part of friends. They 
spent the remainder of the day gathering 
articles that had been hidden by the 
Moravian Indians when the Wyandots 
visited them the fall before and forced 
their removal. That night, the 6th of 
March, they all lay down to sleep to- 
gether, as it has been said : " The one 
dreaming of scalps, the other of happy 
homes." On the morning of March 7 
"Williamson sent an escort with several 
of the Indians from Gnadenhutten to 
bring those from Salem. This was ac- 
complished in the same guise of friend- 
ship and Christianity. The Indians at 
Salem were asked to give up their arms, 
which they did, and thus helpless, though 
with cheerful hearts they trudged along 
with the escort until they came to a pool 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 109 

of blood and a bloody canoe at the place 
where Jacob had witnessed the shooting. 
The confidence of the Indians fled, but 
they saw they were helpless in the hands 
of their enemies. Their captors, fearing 
their escape, bound them and brought 
them also to Gnadenhutten. 

On their arrival they found the Gnad- 
enhutten Indians had been imprisoned in 
two houses, the women and children in 
one, and the men in the other, and the 
Moravians from Salem were soon with 
them. The true character of their sup- 
posed friends was thus disclosed. Instead 
of the kind words the Indians had heard 
a few hours before, were the curses and 
taunts of their captors. Their sympathy 
for suffering was changed to thoughts of 
murder. 

Not all were murderers, however. 



110 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 



Some of Williamson's men realized the 
crime which their companions in arms 
wished to commit, and were in favor of 
releasing the Indians, or at the worst 
taking them captive to Pittsburg where 
the United States authorities could deal 
with them as was thought proper. Seeing 
the difference of opinion, Williamson 
resolved to leave the question to a vote 
of his men, and a consultation was held. 
Those in favor of sparing their lives de- 
clared that the Indians were innocent of 
any crime, while those in favor of death 
pointed to the fact that they had articles 
of household goods and clothing which 
the Indians in their savage state could 
not make. One of the band identified 
a garment worn by an Indian woman as 
belonging to Mrs. Wallace who had been 
murdered a few days before. The con- 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. Ill 

elusion the whites deducted was that the 
Moravian Indians assisted in that murder. 
The facts were, that the garment of 
Mrs. Wallace had been sold at an auction 
with other goods a few days before, and 
not then knowing of the crime, or how 
the garment was obtained by the person 
selling it, one of the Moravian Indians 
bought it for his wife. Her clothes had 
been stolen by the Wyandots the fall be- 
fore, and this garment was bought proba- 
bly to supply an actual need, not realiz- 
ing that it would be used as an evidence 
of murder against the entire Moravian 
band. 

These facts, however, could not at that 
time be presented for the company of 
whites were of the nature of a mob, and 
those who ruled had their opinions 
formed before starting on the expedition, 



112 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

and did not desire to consider any facts 
in favor of the Indians. Colonel Wil- 
liamson did not desire to. take the re- 
sponsibility of action upon himself, how- 
ever, determined to have his men decide 
as to what should be done with them. 
He ordered his men to " fall in," and 
after explaining the situation he put the 
question : " Shall the Moravian Indians 
be taken prisoners to Pittsburg or put to 
death ? All those in favor of sparing 
their lives step one pace forward and 
form a second rank." Eighteen stepped 
forward to the line of mercy. About 
eighty remained on the line of murder, 
and the question was thus decided that 
the Moravian Indians should die. 

This intelligence was quickly commu- 
nicated to the Indians where they were 
prisoners in the houses built for their own 




Monument at Gnadenhutten, Ohio. 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 113 

protection. They were told they had 
only one night more to prepare for death 
and that they should make use of it and 
die as Christians. At first this news 
almost crushed them. That Americans 
whom they had helped whenever they 
could do so without voilating their 
Christian principles ; Americans, whom 
they looked upon as friends, and who 
had but a few hours before talked with 
them about Christianity and compli- 
mented them on their piety should take 
them prisoners, and go so far as to 
murder them without even permission to 
make a defense or explanation was too 
much for the innocent mind of a Christian 
to bear, even though an Indian. 

They had been taught to overcome dis- 
appointments, however, and as night 
came on and they realized it was their 



114 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

last one on earth, they spent it in sing- 
ing and praying. One old Mohican In- 
dian, Abraham, who had followed the 
Moravians from New York, had in his 
later days, become a backslider. He was 
one of the unfortunates, and to prepare 
for death he asked forgiveness of all whom 
he had wronged, and then joined in the 
singing and prayers also. While this 
last prayer meeting was being held in 
the prison house, the captors on the out- 
side were discussing the method of exe- 
cution. Some wanted to burn them. 
Others favored a different plan as they 
wanted scalps. It seemed Williamson's 
men were not only blood thirsty, but 
their desire for crime was a mania, and 
the worst form which could be devised 
was the preferable. They finally decided 
to kill them separately in almost any man- 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 115 

ner, one by one, but to make the work 
complete. Those who had stepped to the 
line of mercy pleaded that they be taken 
prisoners instead of killed, but all 
in vain, and then as Pilot of old, they 
washed their hands of the matter and 
called upon God to witness that the 
crime was not upon them. 

The morning of the 8th of March 
dawned. The murderers began their 
preparations. The cooper shop, in which 
no doubt old Joshua had honestly toiled 
many a day, was chosen as one of the 
slaughter houses. A cooper's mallet lay- 
ing there, which had so often been used 
as a tool for works of mercy, was selected 
as the instrument of death. The man 
who picked it up remarked, " How ex- 
actly will this answer the purpose,'' and 
stood ready to begin the execution. The 



116 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

whites then went to the prison houses 
and inquired whether they were not soon 
ready for the work, to which the inno- 
cent Moravians replied, " We are ready." 

The bloody work began. The Indians 
were led out two by two. Old Abraham 
was the first to be taken, and as the self 
chosen executioner seized him by his 
long flowing white hair he said to one of 
his fellow criminals, " See what a fine 
scalp this will make," and knocked him 
in the head with the mallet. He kept 
on with the work in this manner until 
he had fourteen dead and dying at his 
feet when he handed the mallet to an- 
other, saying, " I think I have done 
pretty well, go on with the work." 

The work did continue until, to the 
knowledge of the whites, not one Indian 
of that band remained alive, and among 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO, 117 

the dead were Captain Johnny, the chief 
of the Turtle tribe, who had resigned his 
position to follow the Moravians : Old 
Tobias, the sexton of the church at Salem. 
who had saved Heckewelder's life ; Grlik- 
kikin, the former war chief of the Wolf 
tribe whose faithfulness to the missions 
and to the Americans was always prom- 
inent, and John Martin, who had ridden 
with John Heckew elder from Gnaden- 
hutten to Coshocton on that day when the 
tide of war was turned. 

The ;, ouse which was occupied by the 
women and children was also made a 
slaughter house, and among those who 
perished there were the two young 
daughters of Joshua the cooper, the wife 
of Glikkikin, and Christiana, a well edu- 
cated woman who had lived among the 
Americans in the East and could speak 



118 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

three languages. Christiana fell upon 
her knees before Williamson and begged 
that her life be spared, but he replied 
that he could do nothing for her. So 
passed the day, and as the sun was sink- 
ing in the West, ninety-six of the Mo- 
ravian Indians had passed by the hands 
of the Americans into the future state. 

Only two persons escaped. Jacob, a 
young boy who was imprisoned in the 
house with the women and children, got 
through a trap door into the cellar. The 
massacre just over his head was proceed- 
ing and the whites were so engaged in 
their horrid work that he crept out of 
the cellar window unobserved, and hid 
in a clump of hazel bushes. Abel and 
Thomas, two other boys, were not killed 
by the blow from the mallet and by being 
scalped, but lay as if dead. When Able 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 119 

thought the murderers had left, he raised 
slightly to see his surroundings. Just 
then one of Williamson's men came into 
the slaughter house, and seeing an In- 
dian still alive, he crushed him under his 
heels. Thomas observed this and lay 
perfectly quiet until it became dark, when 
he cautiously slipped out of the building 
and escaped. By a coincidence he found 
Jacob, and they two watched the mur- 
derers set fire to the houses and make 
merry over the result of their work, and 
then with savage shouts, and oaths, start 
for Schoenbrunn, where they expected to 
repeat the crime committed at Gnaden- 
hutten. 

The messenger which Zeisberger sent 
from Captive's Town to ask the Indians 
to return, arrived at Schoenbrunn about 
the time Williamson's party arrived at 



120 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

Gnadenhutten. Having given the mes- 
sage to the Indians there, messengers 
proceeded towards Gnadenhutten. When 
within a short distance of the town, they 
found the body of their own country- 
man, Shebosh, lying by the river bank, 
dead and scalped. Tracks of horses were 
also noticed in the vicinity, and they 
then saw a number of whites across the 
river at Gnadenhutten. Hastily taking 
note of these facts the messengers retraced 
their steps to Schoenbr.unn and told what 
they had seen. The Moravian Indians 
there, thinking these visitors might mean 
harm, dispersed through the woods where 
they could observe what was taking place 
in their town without being seen. 

Soon Williamson's band appeared and 
seeing the town deserted, they satisfied 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 1 '1 1 

themselves by looting the houses and 
setting the town on fire. 

The whites then made their way to- 
wards the east, as it was learned that a 
number of the Moravian Indians had 
gone in that direction. Later they went 
to Pittsburg with their stolen goods, 
which were put up at auction and sold. 

The missionaries at Captive's Town. 
not hearing from those who went to the 
Tuscarawas Yalley, were compelled t>> 
start on their journey to Fremont with 
the limited accommodations they could 
procure at Sandusky. The trip took 
them through marshes. The weather wag 
still cold, and other hardships were to ho 
borne. When they arrived at Fremont 
they found true friends among the whites. 
Here they heard the news of the massacre 
of their people at Gnadenhutten. 



122 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

The remaining history of the Moravian 
Missions is soon told. The few converts 
who had not relapsed into heathen- 
ism or been killed were gathered to- 
gether, and a new mission called New 
Gnadenhntten was started in the present 
State of Michigan, where they lived until 
four years after the Revolutionary War. 
The desire to return to their beloved 
Tuscarawas Valley was still uppermost 
in the minds of many of them, and es- 
pecially was this the case with Zeisberger, 
Hecke welder and Edwards, the only 
missionaries left to care for the Indians. 
New Gnadenhutten was a long distance 
from Detroit, the nearest settlement, and 
the road to that post lay partly through 
a forest, and partly through a dense 
swamp, so they were cut off from com- 
munication with the outside world. From 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 123 

the disadvantages of this position the 
little flock was diminishing instead of 
increasing, and it could not be otherwise 
while they remained there. The day 
came when they started on their home- 
ward journey. On April 20, 17S6, the 
congregation met for the last time in 
their chapel at New Gnadenhutten and 
offered thanks to God for His care and 
protection. They went to Detroit, crossed 
Lake Erie, and on June 8, arrived at 
the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, at the 
present site of Cleveland. Their inten- 
tion was to go direct from here to the 
Tuscarawas Y alley, but they were again 
doomed to disappointment. They were 
informed that but recently the whites 
had murdered some Indians there, and 
that the savage Indians had not yet ac- 
cepted peace. For this reason they re- 



124 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

mained for a time on the Cuyahoga at a 
place named Pilgrims Rest. 

Here Hecke welder also left the band 
for other fields, and the remainder of 
them moved back to the Huron River, 
where New Salem was built, and later 
we find them at Fairfield, Canada. 

The savage Indians in Ohio kept up 
the war spirit even after the Revolu- 
tionary War was over. In 1790 hostili- 
ties in an aggravated form began again. 
St. Clair was sent to Ohio with an army to 
preserve peace, but in a battle in 1791 he 
was defeated. Then General Anthony 
Wayne was sent, and the result of his 
campaign was the treaty of peace made 
in 1795 which forever ended Indian wars 
in Ohio. 

In 1785, Congress granted three large 
tracts of land in which Schoenbrunn, 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 125 

Gnadenhutten and Salem had been lo- 
cated for the use of the Moravian Indians. 
These grants were renewed in June, 1796, 
and the remnant of the Moravian Indians 
was invited to take possession of their 
old homes. It was not, however, until 
1798 that their desire to return could be 
satisfied. That year, however, on May 
31, Heckewelder, who was again with 
the Moravian Indians, Edwards, another 
missionary, and six of the Indians who had 
been members of the missions for years, 
started for the Tuscarawas Valley. 
On August 15, Zeisberger with thirty- 
three of the Indian converts followed. 
About the 1st of October this little 
band floated down the Tuscarawas 
River in canoes as Zeisberger and 
Glikkikin had done over twenty-seven 
years before, and then they paddled 



126 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

into the lake and to the landing at the 
beautiful spring, where they arrived Oc- 
tober 4, 1798. 

Near by the town of Goshen was built, 
and a mission started. Here the first 
convert was the widow of Captain White 
Eyes. White Eyes' sons also became 
members of the mission. 

The mission at Goshen prospered until 
about 1800, when it too began to decline, 
and at the death of Zeisberger in 1808, 
the missions in the Tuscarawas Y alley 
may be looked upon as abandoned. 

To-day as we pass over the site of these 
communities we note the changes. All 
traces of Schoenbrunn are effaced. The 
original beauty of the location is gone. 
The beautiful spring is dry. The clear 
lake has become a marsh by absorbing the 
decay of generations. The virgin forest 
has fallen, and the noble race which oc- 
cupied its banks, have, like the forest, dis- 



RC 10.5 



MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 127 

appeared before the destructive elements 
of civilization. 

The site of Old Gnadenhutten is a 
pretty grove. One mound near the site 
of the massacre is the last resting place 
of the bones of the unfortunates, which 
were gathered up and buried there by 
their former teacher and faithful friend, 
John Heckewelder, and David Peter, 
about eighteen years after the massacre. 
Another mound marks the site of the 
Mission House, and the plot made sacred 
by the presence of the church in which 
so many prayers and exhortations were 
uttered, is marked by a limestone shaft 
bearing the inscription. " Here tri- 
umphed in death ninety Christian In- 
dians, March 8, 1782." 

But, although the physical features are 
thus changed and these events are looked 
upon as matters of history, the results 
still live. The moral influence exerted 
by these faithful followers of Christianity 
on not onlv those who came in contact 



128 MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO. 

with them, but on those who read about 
them, can not be measured, and that in- 
fluence is with us to-day. 

The effect of their actions on the 
political history of the United States 
can only be conjectured, but their 
policy for peace during the Revolu- 
tionary war was at least instrumental 
in helping our fathers secure their 
Independence. On this one feature Gen- 
eral Butler says : " Had the chiefs of 
the Delaware Nation, together with the 
Christian Indians, pursued a different 
course than that which they adopted, all 
joined the enemy and taken np the 
hatchet against the American people, it 
would have cost the United States much 
blood and treasure, to have withstood 
them and checked their progress, besides 
weakening our already feeble armies on 
the sea board by draining them of troops 
for the Western service, and this might 
have proved fatal to the cause." 

THE END. 



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